Good to be Back
by asagoro
Summary: In which Sasuke comes back worse than he left, and Kakashi takes care of him. kakasasu
1. Glad You're Back

When there was a single loud knock on the door, Kakashi knew who it was. It was strange that he knew who it was without out so much as looking at the door, but it was only fitting that a teacher should know his student so well.

Even though Kakashi had predicted accurately, it didn't prevent him from being surprised when he looked upon that pale face for the first time in three years. Rainwater was streaming down the man's cheeks, probably mixed with more than a few tears, and dripped down off his strong jaw onto the now transparent white kimono on this shoulders.

Though the rain had washed out most of the blood that had seeped though the white fabric, it was very obvious that the young man before him was wounded badly.

Kakashi sighed and took the man's pale hand, pulling him into the dimly lit apartment. He sat the pale man down and went to fetch the medical kit from the bathroom. When he returned, the man was sitting in the exact same position as he had been in when Kakashi left. It was as though he hadn't so much as dared to breathe.

Kakashi tugged lightly at the soaking shirt on the young man's chest. After a few moments, Kakashi managed to remove the kimono top, along with the rope that was tied around the pale man's waist. The movement of the top messed with the man's hair, not to say that he cared much: it was practically dripping with the blood soaked into it. Upon viewing the large gash that started at the pale throat and came around his back, ending at the hip, Kakashi struggled to hold back a groan. How could this boy be careless enough to be wounded on the back? He sighed. It was a deep wound, and even with proper medical treatment it would probably never heal completely.

Kakashi turned the young man around and wiped his back dry. Blood dribbled out of the wound creating red streams that converged at his spine. The older man wiped up the blood again with the towel and applied antiseptic. He proceeded to dry the rest of the young man, and treated any other cut or scrape he found that marred the white skin.

After bandaging him up, Kakashi examined his work, and then turned the man back around to face him. The expression he found on the man's face was almost heart breaking. He looked lost and confused, and on the verge of tears. Kakashi studied the face carefully for a moment, then pulled the young into his arms.

"I'm glad you came back, Sasuke, even if you're not." He could feel Sasuke trembling against his chest.

oo0oo

After Sasuke fell asleep, Kakashi laid next to him, watching him dream. For the last three years, Kakashi waited for Sasuke to come back, had waited for things to go back to normal. While things would never be the same, Kakashi was glad that the first step had been taken to get there.

…………

End of part one.

I'm not so sure part two is even connected to this, so you can read them separately if you want to. The next part should be out soon!


	2. Anything

Sasuke woke the next morning to find himself in an unknown bed, wearing someone else's clothes. Momentarily, he panicked. This wouldn't have been the first time he woke up in a stranger's bed.

But now he realized that this was not a stranger's bed. This was Kakashi's bed, and he was in Kakashi's house.

Looking briefly around the room, Sasuke stood and headed for the door, any to find that Kakashi had 'poofed' to block it. Sasuke looked mildly irritated, but steeped back.

"I can't let you leave." Kakashi stated. "Especially not with that nasty wound on your back. You'll just have to make yourself comfy here until I figure what to do with you."

Sasuke stared. And stared. And stared for another few moments until the gurgling of his stomach interrupted his brilliant 'stare until Kakashi gets bored and leaves' plan. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Kakashi sighed and motioned for Sasuke to follow him into the kitchen. The young man stood and watched Kakashi's retreating form for a few seconds before he followed with light steps.

oo0oo

Kakashi's idea of breakfast was far different than Sasuke's: Kakashi had set out an elaborate meal consisting of microwaved Chinese take out and bad coffee. While Sasuke hadn't been expecting much, he also wasn't impressed by this 'feast'. Silently he sat down, or rather, crouched in wooden chair across from Kakashi and preceded to glare at the older man. Kakashi, being the man he was, seemed completely oblivious to this, and sipped his horrible coffee and skimmed the local newspaper (Sasuke hadn't failed to notice that the paper was over three months old).

Briefly, Sasuke contemplated snatching the paper from Kakashi and yelling at him.

_Do something._

_Anything._

_Tell me I'm wrong._

But Sasuke was too suave for something so loud and obnoxious.

_That's what Naruto is for, right?_

So Sasuke sat and watched Kakashi's eyes move back and forth as he read the paper.

…………..

please review!!!! Part three will be out soon….maybe…

note: to EvilS, I almost died laughing when I read your little comment. I appreciate your support!

headaches4ever, this is for you. Actually, I would have been content at ch. 1 if it weren't for you're multi-chaptered stuff that made me feel so hobo. TT

Mizuki hikari, I have no idea who you are, but you're my first review, so I appreciate the support!


	3. Kindness

Sorry it took so long to update! I've been doing a lot of stuff lately, and didn't have any motivation and…ok, I'll stop making excuses. This chapter isn't very interesting, but it's setting the story up for some good stuff (sorry, I don't write smut, but…). Anyway, enjoy!

BTW, I meant to make this longer, as someone requested, but I ran out of steam! Sorry! I will make longer chapters in the future.

Kakashi slowly unwrapped the bandage around Sasuke's chest and back. The bleeding had stopped, but the wound would need taking care of until it healed. After a moment of examining the wound, Kakashi's eyes began to wander across the wan skin before him, his fingertips following shortly after. He ran his index finger down Sasuke's spine, feeling each and every vertebra on its path. He vaguely noted last night that Sasuke was far too thin, but pushed it to the back of his mind, as there were more pressing issues at hand. Now that Sasuke's life was no longer in immediate danger, Kakashi decided that he would have to make Sasuke eat more. Or rather, anything, seeing as the young man had skipped on breakfast that morning.

Pausing briefly when his finger reached Sasuke's lower back, Kakashi glanced upwards towards Sasuke's neck and shoulders. He noted how tense Sasuke was. Kakashi wondered how long it had been since someone had touched the young man without any malicious intent. Perhaps it had been a friendly pat on the head from Kakashi himself, or an elbow nudge in the side from Naruto. Perhaps it had been Sakura's embrace upon Sasuke's departure. It was also possible that Orochimaru had been kind to him, patted him on the head, held him in his arms….

_Then why did Sasuke kill him?_

_Sasuke seeks revenge, not kindness._

Kakashi sighed, then poked Sasuke in the back.

"Up. Let's get you something to eat." He stood and returned the first aid kit the bathroom. When he returned, Sasuke was sitting by the window, staring at…who knows what; maybe birds, maybe nothing at all.

"Do you like Chinese food?" Kakashi inquired. Sasuke stared, then shook his head. "Too bad. That's all I have right now. You will eat it nicely or I will shove it down your throat."

Sasuke seemed to contemplate this for a moment before he moved back to kitchen and accepted the cold take out from Kakashi.

is it a naked clone of Kakashi???

Anyway, now for my thank-you's….

EvilS: you are so weird, I love you!!!!! Your reviews, I think, are better than the story itself. Thank you for your support!!!!!

H4E: you know who you are. Thank you for encouraging me to write!!!

Oztan: stick around, the party's only getting started!

DancingDragonBlaze: I'm really sorry!!!!! I'll make it longer in the future!!!!!! I swear!!!!!!

phantom kitten: here you go!!! I hope you like it….

**Okies people, I need your help! I'm running out of stuff to happen between point A and point B.**

**Email me for you ideas!!!! **



**¡Ayuda me, ayuda me!**


	4. Concern

This goes out to Paelle and Amberle Ohmsford for their ideas!! Thank you guys soooo much! I hope you like it! Everyone, enjoy! Please review, and if you get bored in between chapters, read something else I've written! Or boogie on over to headaches4ever, and read their stuff.

"I have a mission today, Sasuke. You'll have to stay here while I'm gone. If you try to run, anbu will catch you, and probably kill you; understand, Sasuke? Stay here and I won't have to go coffin shopping." Kakashi paused, then added, "And I'm sure that you're a great ninja,"_ just like Orochimaru was_, "But you're badly wounded. Any attempt to leave will end badly." Just to be sure that Sasuke wouldn't try anything, Kakashi put a sedative in his food.

…hopefully Sasuke hadn't noticed. All the same, Kakashi was going to have to hurry with his mission so that he could keep an eye on Sasuke, and hopefully thing of something to do with him. As great as it would be to just turn the brat in, have him rot in jail, or die at the hands of the executioner, Kakashi was sure that Naruto would not appreciate that. This put Kakashi in a bad position; he could either do what was legal and keep his job and life, or he could let Sasuke have _his_ life, keep Naruto and Sakura happy and ultimately get caught and suffer the Godaime's wrath. He really needed more time to think about this.

o0o

About fifteen minutes after Kakashi left, Sasuke began to feel the effects of the drug. And no, he hadn't noticed the sedative. He wondered if it was really so bad to just sleep here, sitting at the table. Surely he would wake up before Kakashi returned, and…

_Why aren't I more concerned about this?_

And Sasuke was out like a light.

o0o

"Kakashi-sensei is late again?! What the hell does he do in the morning that is more important than training with us?" Naruto was obviously pissed. They had a mission today, the first in ages, and Naruto was sure as hell not about to let Kakashi ruin it without even being there.

"That guy had better have a good excuse; otherwise I'm going to—" Naruto flinched at the thought of Sakura beating the life out of their teacher, which was not to say that Naruto really disagreed with her, but actually, Sakura had become quite the demon over the last few years. Naruto was sure that if Sakura was given the chance, she would rip Kakashi into sheds and they would have to use some super jutsu to find all of the pieces.

"Uhh…Sakura-chan? As cool as it would be to see you completely destroy Kakashi-sensei, wouldn't it be better to just find him and get some other, more… ah… legal… revenge?"

Sakura stared at Naruto, before bowing her head and sighing. "You're right. I guess that if we want to get Sasuke back, going to jail for killing some stupid pervert isn't going to help. Naruto hummed affirmatively.

"So let's find him and strap a time bomb to him and…"

"Yeah yeah, and then we could—"

From Kakashi's location, in front of the memorial, he could feel the evil aura created by Sakura and Naruto growing. He shivered slightly and prayed that it wasn't something he'd have to worry about.

o0o

Naruto and Sakura were standing in front of Kakashi's apartment door, both more than curious as to what the inside of this apartment looked like. While neither of them had actually been inside the place, they had followed Kakashi for six hours to find out where the man lived, in case of an emergency, of course.

"Do you think there are traps?"

"Of course there are, you moron! What kind of ninja do you think Kakashi-sensei is?!" Sakura snapped, although she was pretty curious about the booby traps that may await them should they try to enter the apartment.

When neither of them could take it any longer, Naruto suggested they 'rock, paper, scissor over who had to open the door and potentially lose a limb or two. Unfortunately for Naruto, 'rock, paper, scissors' with a woman was very different than with a man; ultimately, it was all about wits.

"This is stupid Naruto. Why don't you just open the door? After all, it would be a shame if I, a beautiful you woman, were harmed by a trap when my comrade, a **man**, just sat back and watched. One-two-three—"

"Sakura-chan…"

"Show! Ha! Paper beats rock! I win!"

"Whaaaaat?! When did--?" Naruto glanced at his hand. It was indeed in fist, or a 'rock'.

_When did she get so sneaky? I bet that Tsunade rubbed off on her big time._

Naruto took a deep breath and reached for the handle. So far, so good. His finger tips barely touched the cool bronze. Still doing good. He wrapped his finer around it, and turned it, pulling the door open.

_It wasn't even locked…what kind of ninja is Kakashi-sensei?_

Naruto peeked through the doorway and scanned the dark room for traps. However, instead of traps, Naruto saw…

ShadowFoxTrulsRohk: I have no idea how you got to this so fast, but thank you for reviewing! And thank you for the encouragement!

DDB: Thank you for your suggestions and feedback! You are very helpful, and I appreciate your reviews!!

Axcushate: Will do! Enjoy!

phantom kitten: I hope this makes your day better too!!

Oztan: There is more too come! Keep on reading, and thanks for your review!


	5. Found

Uwah! I'm sorry it took so long to update! Unfortunately, this will be the last chapter until late August…so sorry! Hopefully this will be enough to tide you over until then! BTW, everyone has been asking me what to do about the situation in this story, what with Sasuke sleeping and Sakura and Naruto entering Kakashi's house… honestly, for a while, I had no idea either!! heheh Hopefully this is alright…but it has slight spoilers. Anyone who doesn't know who Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo are…well, this really doesn't give anything away but their names and their relationship with Sasuke (sort of…), so you can read it without worrying too much. However, if you do want to find out who they are…I recommend Naruto Manga Returns (oops…I think that's unofficial advertising…;) Anyway, everyone, enjoy!!!

Note: **bold** in this first part is Sasuke talking, thinking, ect.

Note #2: this little italicized section below takes place as the part below it happens…

o0o

"_Hey Sasuke…what're you looking at?"_

"…"

"_Sasuke? Wha—Oh my god! Are you alright?! Sasuke!"_

"…"

" _Suigetsu! Come here! There's something wrong with Sasuke!"_

"_What's wrong now, Karin? He looks just fine to me…"_

"_But—but the blood! Where did it come from?"_

"_Who cares? Sasuke is a ninja; he probably killed someone. It's not a big deal."_

"_Sasuke doesn't kill people! He specifically told us not to kill, and he never--!"_

"_**Shut up."**_

"_See, I told you he was—"_

_**Blood. There is blood everywhere. Is it mine? No, I am not wounded. It is Karin, and Suigetsu, and Juugo. Are they dead? Yes. You killed them. Me? Yes. **_

_**It hurts. It hurts! What did I do?! Why—**_

o0o

"What a mess! Does Kakashi-sensei ever clean up in here?"

"Are you kidding?! Kakashi-sensei is almost as lazy as Shikamaru!" Sakura snapped, kicking at the pile of clothes blocking the doorway. A pair of silky back boxers were sticking to one of her feet. "Ewww!!! I am SO going to kill him once we find him. Making us come out here and see all this crap…stupid sensei…" Sakura was now mumbling to herself as she continued to dig through the garbage and clothing scattered across the room.

"I don't think that he's here…" Naruto murmured as he looked around the apartment.

"I wasn't." Naruto and Sakura both jumped at the sound of their sensei's cold voice. "And if you are quite done rummaging through my things, I think that it's time we went on our mission."

Sakura turned bright red, obviously trying to push inner Sakura back into the back of her mind. "But sensei!" She said as sweetly as she could, "You were so late, we just had to go looking for you! I was afraid that you had been attacked by enemy ninja or something…"

"Really...do you think that I would let myself get into trouble with enemy ninja?" _Well…Sasuke is technically the enemy, but…_

"Uh, yeah! You are so freaking retarded sometimes sensei! Of course I though that you'd be dead somewhere…and if you weren't, I was going to do it myself! I was going to—"

"To what?" Kakashi prompted her, trying to sound genuinely interested in how she would kill him. Honestly, Kakashi couldn't care less, but as long as Sasuke was still in the apartment, he would need to keep his students distracted until they left.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto broke in, "Is it just me or…"

"There is someone else in here, isn't there?" Sakura finished Naruto's sentence. "Is that why you were late? You were screwing around with some village woman?!"

"And I respected you sensei! I wanted to be an awesome ninja like you, but you're late because you were sleeping with some chick—" Naruto was angry again, his hands were balled up into fists, and he was trembling in rage.

"You suck!" hollered the pink haired kunoichi, "I bet this is why you're late everyday! You just—"

"Nggh…"

The room went silent. Sakura and Naruto stared in the direction that the noise had come from, notably, behind the door that lead to the kitchen area. Kakashi momentarily panicked, moving in front to the door. "Just one of the dogs." He lied and motioned for the shocked ninjas to leave.

"Kakashi-sensei, that didn't sound like a dog…that sounded like…" A whimper from the other room made Naruto pause, "That sounded like a guy."

Sakura looked like she was about to faint. "You—you slept with a guy…?"

"I didn't sleep with him." Kakashi automatically responded, looking slightly annoyed.

"So there is a guy back there!" Naruto pushed past his teacher, flung the door open, and slipped inside the kitchen. His eyes immediately fell on the dark haired man sleeping at the table. "Ohho! Here he his! This is the guy that Kakashi-sensei 'didn't' sleep with!" Naruto shook the man's shoulder and attempted to wake up him up. "Hey man, wakey-wakey! It wouldn't been cool to beat up a guy while he's asleep…Kakashi! Wake up your boyfriend! What did you do, drug him?"

"As a matter of fact, I did drug him. And he's still not my boyfriend." Kakashi sighed, then entered the room. He removed Naruto's hands from Sasuke shoulders, then moved the sleeping man to the couch, face up. Sakura, who had finally come out of her yaoi induced daze, gasped.

"That can't be! It's—that's—"

"Sasuke. He showed up at my house last night half dead. I had no choice but to take him in."

"Kakshi!" Naruto grabbed Kakashi's jounin vest. "If he was here, why didn't you tell us?! Why did you try to hide him from us?!"

Kakashi gently removed Naruto's hand and stood up. "It wasn't your choice to make. As long as Sasuke is under my care, he will remain hidden. Naruto, with your loud mouth, you were bound to tell someone. And Sakura, you like to gossip. What if Sasuke's location were to accidentally slip out? It was too much of a risk."

"So you're saying that you don't trust us?" Sakura looked hurt.

"Not with Sasuke, I don't." Kakashi sighed again. This was turning out to be a rougher day than he had planned. "However, seeing as you now know…I guess…I should tell you…don't let **anyone** find out about this. Not yet. We need to figure out what we are going to do with him.

Both Sakura and Naruto looked relieved. "Don't worry sensei! You're secret is safe with us!" Naruto beamed. "We will do anything that we can for Sasuke."

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "For now at least, let's figure out what to do…"

----

mika: sorry for the wait!

Oztan: I hope this is long enough…I think I'm getting the chapters to be just a little longer each time…

Felidae131: sorry…I hope this one is long enough!!

EvilS.: I pretty much, like, love your reviews! So funny! Thank you!

evil sasuke girl: err…sorry it took so long… as for your questions..i'm not even sure yet! I guess we'll find out! But let me know that you think should happen!

Jyrotika: cracks up I hope you noticed your little contribution in there…thank you! hehe

NeonRoses: I believe this is what you requested?

phantom kitten: here you go!

DancingDragonBlaze: thank you again! (note: I agree with you on the Sakura thing…I hate her!! However, I figured that maybe if I could make her more fun…then she wouldn't suck so much… let me know how I'm doing with that!)

The super Ferg:

_"Naruto saw, to his horror, a young man with his shorts at his ankles and showing some soiled tighty whiteys, holding a empty beer bottle loosely in his pale hand, passed out in a questionable position upon the vomit stained futon. His hair a mess of ebony across his off-white face, yet despite this monstrosity that had become Sasuke, Naruto could not help but be turned on by his fallen former teamate."_

This is kakasasu dammit! Aww…don't worry, I still love you! However…that is…discusting..hurls

ShadowFoxTrulsRohk: I hope you're not dead yet…or still sitting in your seat…here you got! tries CPR live!!!


	6. Nightmares

Wow. It's been a while. So sorry! Anyways, I know that a lot of people did not appreciate Sakura and Naruto finding out about Sasuke, and quite frankly, I agree. Why don't I think these things through?! Anyway. So now it's going to be a little bit harder to keep this thing going. I mean, what can I do? Honestly, I would really love it if people helped me!!! puppy dog eyes Because I got nothing. No, scratch that. I know what I want to happen, but there are some details that need help. Please, send me a note or something if you have a suggestion. Until then, this is something of a 'get the ball moving chapter'. I swear, I say that every time. Or rather, 'it will get better'. How lame. But I swear it's true this time! You can tell! Just read it!

o0o

_Shit. Shitshitshitshitshit. What am I going to do? _

Kakashi roamed his living room, brushing his hair back with his fingers.

_This is getting way too complicated. It was bad enough that Sasuke decided to show up, but now…now they know. Neither of them will be able to keep their mouths shut. Shit._

He took another lap around the room, then wandered over to the still sleeping Sasuke.

_What will happen to him? _Kakashi was now certain that this whole situation was bad and getting worse. He could only pray that Sasuke made it through alive.

_And here he lays in a dreamless, drug-induced sleep_(so he thought)_. So peaceful. Is this really the same brat that I tied to a tree almost three years ago? _Kakashi placed a hand on the young man's head, feeling the spiky hair flatten under his touch. _ Why did you come back? What happened?_

Suddenly, Sasuke stirred under him. A groan escaped his lips and his dark brows furrowed. Kakashi watched with interest as Sasuke's fist curled and uncurled on the table. The older man began to slowly rub the pale teen's back, hoping to slowly wake him up, there fore reducing the risk of his former student finding something pointy to throw at him in half awake paranoia. But he did not wake.

_He should be having any dreams with the drug. I wonder…what is going on in his head?_

Another groan snapped Kakashi out of his thoughts. _A nightmare I suppose. The bottle says no dreams, but nothing about nightmares._ He sighed and resumed rubbing Sasuke's back, ascomfortingly as he could, after all, he was ninja, and consoling wasn't his forte.

When Sasuke whimpered, Kakashi was sure that it was a nightmare. He'd seen Sasuke have nightmares before, back when Team Seven was whole. During the mission in Kirigakure, he'd heard whimpering from one of the futons and decided to check it out. He found Sasuke curled up in a little ball, blanket wrapped around him so tightly, Kakashi wandered if he could breathe. The man knew that Sasuke's traumatic past would cause some…inconsistencies in the boy's normally stoic character, however, he was a little surprised to see Sasuke like this.

In the present, Kakashi found himself still absently rubbing Sasuke's back, hoping to chase away whatever haunted his subconscious. Slowly, Kakashi moved his hand up onto the table, closer to Sasuke's fist. At first, he rubbed the young man's thumb, from nail to knuckle, then wrapping around the whole hand .

_What has happened to you? _ The same question drifted through Kakashi's head over and over again. Finally, deciding there was nothing more he could do for the young man, he turned to leave, only to find that the same pale hand he had been stroking on moments before would not let him go. And he could hear Sasuke groaning and shifting as he tried to wake up. Having realized the position he was in, Kakashi quickly decided that now was indeed **not** a good time for Sasuke to wake up.

_Shit._

o0o

See, I told you it would get better! Anyway, I'm too lazy to write out thank-you's right now, but I do appreciate your feedback, and yes, this is a short chapter (aren't they all?). I'm working on it. I have other things I really want to write right now, and it's destacting. Anywho. This goes out to DancingDragonBlaze, even though I don't know you, I do appreciate your help, and I understand that I kinda screwed up Sakura (I'm debating just having my man kill her, but…). So hopefully this Sakura-less chapter with a little shonen-ai spice will make it better. If not… I'm sorry! I will fix it (I really will kill her!) anyways, thanks for everyone's support (speshally my buddy Nae'ka). Love ya!


	7. Author's Note: Poll

First off, I just wanted to thank you guys for following me so far. I'm sorry I haven't posted in ages, and I'm sorry that this isn't a new chapter. BUT! Before you disappear, I need your help. See, I've had some fun with this story, and I'm sure that, while it's not that popular, there are at least some of you out there that want me to finish it. Trust me, I want to finish it too. And, in fact, I intend to within three more chapters. Here's my problem though: I have no motivation, and, in all honesty, better things to do. this isn't to say that I dislike fanfiction, or the writing of it in anyway, but I can't think of anything to write. So, here's we're gonna do. I'm going to create a poll in which you can vote on what happened in the story. I have a few ideas, but I need your help with how this should go down. Also, if you have a recommendation, please post it to my journal or as a comment here! And I'm sorry again, I know that this isn't a huge story, and I'm sure not that many people care, but I'm dying here!

(btw, if you don't have livejournal, I'm not sure if you can vote. If you can't, just post it as a comment or something. Hell, you can even email me. I honestly don't care so long as I get the results.)

Here's the link!

here:

http://asagoro. 


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